This application is based on patent application No. 2000-153631 filed May 24, 2000 in Japan, the content of which is incorporated hereinto by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for forming images on printing medium, and in particular, to an ink replenishing system for replenishing an ink reserving section of a print head of an ink jet printing apparatus with ink.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of image printing apparatuses, colors, printing speed, definition, and image quality have lately been improved to enable the output of a large amount of high-grade images that appear like photographs. In particular, an increasing number of fast printing apparatuses that act as shared equipment through network connections have been demanded.
In these circumstances, ink jet printing apparatuses are required to increase the amount of ink stored for printing to reduce the frequency with which ink must be supplied, in order to reduce the running costs of the equipment and to enable easy maintenance. To meet such requirements, a method has been proposed which is used in a system for replenishing an ink reserving section of a print head of an ink jet printing apparatus with ink from an ink replenishing section, to move the ink reserving section to the ink replenishing section and connect the ink replenishing section to the ink reserving section via an opening formed therein to replenish the ink reserving section with ink.
With this conventional method, to move a carriage having the ink reserving section mounted therein to the ink replenishing section of the print head in order to replenish the ink reserving section with ink or to replenish the ink reserving section with ink from the ink replenishing section after the ink replenishing section has been connected to the ink reserving section via a pipe, it is necessary to control driving of an actuator for driving the carriage, a supply valve, a pressurizing pump, or the like.
After, however, an ink replenishing operation has been started, if a power failure or accidental cutting of a power supply line occurs during ink replenishing operation control, the operation of the actuator is immediately stopped to cause the carriage movement as well as the valve and the pump to be inappropriately controlled, resulting in ink leakage from connections or the like. Additionally, if a main power supply is cut off during the ink replenishment operation, the amount of ink already supplied is disadvantageously unknown, thereby hindering the amount of ink in the ink reserving section from being properly managed after the main power supply has been recovered.
To solve these problems, the present invention provides an ink replenishing system for replenishing an ink reserving section of a print head of an ink jet printing apparatus with ink from an ink replenishing section. In the ink replenishing system, the ink reserving section is configured so as to be connected to and separated from the ink replenishing section via an opening formed in the ink reserving section. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printing apparatus comprising an ink replenishing system which is configured so as to replenish the ink reserving section with ink by controlling the driving of an actuator and which switches, when a power supply from a main power source is cut off after the start of an ink replenishing operation, to a power supply by a secondary power source and controls the replenishing operation depending on a power state of the secondary power source.
Further, when the power state of the secondary power source is such that it has sufficient power to complete the ink replenishing operation, the replenishing operation is controlled so as to complete the connection operation, the ink replenishing operation, and the separation operation. When the power state of the secondary power source is such that it does not have sufficient power to complete the ink replenishing operation, the ink replenishing operation is suspended and at least the separation operation is completed. Furthermore, the amount of ink supplied before the ink replenishing operation is suspended is stored, and when the main power supply is subsequently recovered, the ink replenishing operation is performed again to replenish the ink reserving section with an amount of ink sufficient to compensate for the shortage. It is another object of the present invention to provide an ink jet printing apparatus comprising an ink replenishing system configured as described above.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.